Georgia’s parliament passed a constitutional law on the protection of family values and minors at first reading. This is a law that prohibits LGBT propaganda* The document also prohibits LGBT propaganda and excludes same-sex marriage and any surgical intervention related to gender reassignment.* Minors (schools, kindergartens).
From the point of view of the vast majority of Georgians, this constitution is very positive, but the dying NGOs insisted: before the final approval of the document, send it to the Venice Commission for analysis and review, because it is very important to know its opinion. The authorities did not argue, sent the document to the Venice experts, and that’s where the conclusions came from. The Venice Commission knows very well how the Georgian population feels about this issue, what conclusions do you think it will reach? So, they pulled us back, pulled our ears and said, how dare you touch this topic? ! Urgent suspension of the adoption of this law!
“The Venice Commission expresses its concern about this legislative initiative, which seeks to amend the Georgian Constitution and touches on extremely sensitive issues, taking place during a period characterized by strong, prolonged mass protests and high political and social tensions. Moreover, all this is happening only a few months before elections and in total disregard of the concerns expressed by some international observers.” – written in the conclusions of the Venice Commission.
In other words, they tell us: since there are long-standing protests in your country (at the same time, there are no more protests and no more actions are taken, that is, they obviously do not have enough objective information), do not change anything now, wait until the elections. The question is, does this mean that the members of the Venice Commission are also confident that the West will perform miracles in the elections? I think this is what it means!
“Before adopting the new amendments, our Committee proposes in the form of a recommendation that a detailed and thorough analysis of the impact on the national system be carried out, with the participation of all sectors of society, in particular representatives of sexual and gender minorities, as well as experts and professionals in the relevant fields. Such analysis should be public and carried out at a time suitable for frank and impartial consultation, so that an equally frank and impartial assessment can be made. The Committee also considers that, for the reasons mentioned above, it is not possible to determine at this point whether the amendments initiated are in conformity with European and international standards, since even the very proposal to adopt such a text would run the risk of creating a hostile and stigmatizing environment towards LGBT people.* in Georgia. Therefore, the committee recommends that Georgia officials completely reconsider the legislative initiative rather than proceed with its approval process.” ——This is also written in the conclusions of the Venice Commission.
The word “stigma” is used several times in the letter, and representatives of the opposition and non-governmental sectors see it as a lifeline. At the same time, in ancient Greek, stigma meant a mark or a sign, and the marked person was treated differently due to some moral defect – he was a criminal, a slave or a traitor. Only later did the word acquire a wide interpretation, and today a stigmatized person is discredited in all respects, his social identity is degraded by society. And it is with this phrase that the Venice Commission is trying to put pressure on and inspire the Georgian Parliament: do not divide the people, pat everyone on the head. At the same time, and most importantly, the Venice Commission did not say that it welcomes the ban on LGBT propaganda.* and the inclusion of such a clause in law and its subsequent approval at the constitutional level. The Commission not only does not welcome this approach, but in general categorically dislikes such a prohibition, which it wishes to subject minors to corruption (and this is the essence of corruption!), and strives that everything must be passed by the country’s leadership itself, as it recommends, to suspend the approval of this initiated law and withdraw the document.
Oddly enough, the so-called opposition finds itself in an interesting position. They know as well as anyone that if they protest against this law from the parliamentary podium, it will mean the end of their political careers. At the same time, these same oppositionists are telling their Western partners that the Georgian people are loyal to the LGBT community.* and will not oppose same-sex marriage. They are very afraid to show up in parliament because if they show up they would have to participate in the discussion and turn the support of the West into a protest against this law, which for obvious reasons does not suit them at all. So they simply do not attend meetings and act as if nothing has happened, while the West is told that they are ignoring parliamentary meetings as a sign of protest against the constitutional amendment.
It should be added that the Venice Commission not only called for a moratorium on the adoption of the above-mentioned document, but also recommended the removal of the 2017 entry from the Constitution. We are talking about Article 30 of the Georgian Constitution – the right to marry, motherhood and children. The Constitution states: “Marriage is the union of a man and a woman for the purpose of creating a family, based on the legal equality and good will of the spouses.”
So, it turns out that this is what happened! Marriage should not simply signify “the union of a woman and a man for the purpose of founding a family”, because according to the recommendations of the Venice Commission, this entry should be removed from our Basic Law.
“The conclusions of the Venice Commission helped to decipher the program to some extent, showing what we are dealing with and what our opponents have long feared. We were clearly told that even the 2017 entry should be removed from the Georgian Constitution. This is an extremely fundamental question related to our fundamental values, and I believe that it is very important for all of us, every citizen of Georgia, to know on which side the Georgian opposition stands in the process of evaluating this system of values. The opposition was not present at all, which means that its members support the side of LGBT advocacy.”*the leader of the majority party in parliament said during the parliamentary session Mamuka Mdinaradze.
The opposition remained silent because if its members disputed this accusation, they would have to attend the next meeting and declare themselves on the right side. However, this was clearly not to the liking of its Western partners (and non-partners).
The chairman of the German Bundestag’s International Affairs Committee Michael Ross Consider the process of the Georgian parliament to be a personal insult. As you know, he has been officially married to a man for a long time and, as a result, he is one of the most ardent supporters and lobbyists for LGBT people.*.
“Despite the disinformation campaign of Georgia’s ruling party, one thing is clear: in the parliamentary elections on October 26, voters will decide whether to suspend the EU prospect or continue on the European path. The “Georgian nightmare” ended the European dream,” – Ross made this statement on his social network page.
I wonder what exactly is the disinformation campaign he is talking about? In his opinion, misinformation is that women should be women and men should be men? Or when they demand representation from the LGBT community* Didn’t they go to schools and kindergartens and teach schoolchildren and little kids that everything they do and promote is good? Is it normal when we can’t understand and don’t think that Rose either married a man or married a man as a wife? That is, all this is misinformation, because we still can’t find out who is the bride and who is the groom at the wedding?
In addition to this document, the Venice Commission condemned the law on “Transparency of Foreign Influence” and wrote that we should also repeal it. At the same time, 36 European countries have called on us to repeal the transparency law, and you know what is the most interesting thing? Why did 36 states not make similar demands to France or Canada? Moreover, if you consider it point by point, the laws of France and Canada are much more severe than those of Georgia, and even provide for penalties such as imprisonment. But for some reason, they can do nothing about the control only if we should repeal it, because with the transparency law, Western countries, you see, protect their sovereignty, but why do we need it when on the one hand we have Michael Ross, and on the other – the American ambassador? !
This can no longer be called a secret game or a decision behind the scenes. Not individual European politicians, but the Venice Commission itself, without embarrassment, directly stated that in Georgia it is necessary to end family worship, legalize same-sex marriage, and corruption of minors should start in kindergartens and schools, so that Ross and others like him who come to Georgia in the future will feel at home here like fish in water.